By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter

THE MAIN INDEX continued to gain ground on Thursday to break into the 7,500 level and recover following more than a week of decline.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 153.66 points or 2.09% to 7,506.51 each on Thursday, while the broader all shares index improved 68.47 points or 1.57% to 4,422.72.

“Lately, there has been a shift of focus from the coronavirus concerns to market fundamentals. Attractive valuations are finally getting the spotlight backed by 2019 earnings anticipation,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a text message.

The PSEi posted a six-day losing streak due to concerns over the novel coronavirus outbreak. Investor worries pulled the market down since Jan. 27 until it hit its lowest on Feb. 3 at 7,137.03.

It started gaining ground on Tuesday as worries on the virus subsided, mainly after China’s central bank helped stabilize its markets through the injection of $57 billion into the banking system.

Mr. Tantiangco said the rising of the main index is seen to keep its momentum today, as investors are likely to react on the Philippine central bank’s reduction of benchmark rates by 25 basis points.

“Adding to today’s optimism was the awaited policy rate cut by the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) which we saw just awhile ago, a 25 basis point reduction to policy rates,” he said on Thursday.

In Asia, most markets were also able to sustain their upswing in recent days: Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix climbed 2.38% and 2.07% respectively, China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai SE Composite added 1.86% and 1.72% respectively, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 2.64%,

Most Southeast Asian stock markets also rose on Thursday as investors picked up beaten-down stocks.

While most indexes clocked small gains in the last two sessions, current levels stand nowhere close to what they were at before Jan. 20 when the outbreak first drew the attention of global markets.

At home, all sectoral indices increased on Thursday’s close: property picked up 152.97 points or 3.94% to 4,027; industrials rose 170.80 points or 1.85% to 9,384.98; financials climbed 25.59 points or 1.45% to 1,784.38; holding firms gained 91.65 points or 1.29% to 7,172.04; services added 16.99 points or 1.13% to 1,510.58; and mining and oil went up 68.46 points or 0.93% to 7,369.45.

Value turnover was lower at P7.04 billion with 6.22 billion issues from Wednesday’s P9.07 billion with 1.27 billion issues changing hands.

Advancers outnumbered decliners, 115 against 70, while 46 names ended unchanged.

Foreign investors stayed bullish, logging net purchases worth P1.43 billion, slightly lower than Thursday’s P1.54 billion. — with Reuters

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